Vaccination rates plunged during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cases of measles in Europe have jumped to their highest level in 25 years, according to a United Nations report released Thursday.
The virus resulted in 127,352 cases across the continent last year, the U.N. Children’s Fund report said, with the most infections recorded in Romania.
Children under 5 accounted for 43 percent of all recorded cases in Europe and Central Asia in 2024.
Despite a declining trend since 1997, a significant resurgence of measles was recorded in 2023 and 2024 following backsliding in immunization coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Vaccination rates in many countries are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, increasing the risk of outbreaks,” the report said.
“Less than 80 percent of eligible children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania were vaccinated with MCV1 in 2023 — far below the 95 percent coverage rate required to retain herd immunity,” the report said.
Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and a rash all over the body. Most deaths from measles are from complications related to the disease, such as encephalitis, kidney failure and hepatitis.
UNICEF said that for every one person who has measles, 12 to 18 other people will be infected, according to the report.
Infections in Europe and Central Asia makes up 35 percent of the global total, which amounted to 359,521 cases in 2024.
